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THE SUNOL STATUE OF COLUMBUS. 



BY PERMISSION OF ''THE ART INTERCHANGE." 



PRESENTATION^ 



OF 



SUNOL'S BRONZE STATUE 



OF 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 



THE MALL, CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK 



SATURDAY, MAY 12, 1894 



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NEW YORK 

1894 
H 







250 copies, privately printed by The DeVinne Press, for 
Cornelius Vanderbilt and James Grant Wilson. 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 




O more beautiful day than Satm-day, May 
the twelfth, 1894, could have beeu selected 
for the unveiling ceremonial of Jeronimo 
Sunol's bronze statue of Christopher Colum- 
bus, in the Central Park, New York. The 
site occupied by this latest addition to the 
art treasures of the American metropolis 
is perhaps the finest in the Pai-k, standing, 
as it does, at the south end of the broad 
central avenue known as the Mall, and di- 
rectly opposite the noble statue of Shakespeare by J. Q. A. Ward. 
These "two great heirs of fame" of the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries confront each other, and are appropriate companions. 
The statues are of heroic size, standing on pedestals somewhat 
similar in design, but differing in the character of the granite 
used, the Columbus pedestal being designed by Napoleon Le Brun, 
of New York. A platform facing the statue had been erected for 
the use of the speakers and the Committee of Arrangements, and 
was tastefully draped with flags, while two thousand seats had 
been provided and reserved for the subscribers to the statue, 
members of the New Yark Genealogical and Biographical Society, 



and other guests, all of whom were furnished with cards similar to 
the one that appears on another page of this volume. 

Previous to the presentation of the statue, there was a formal 
breakfast given at their residence, No. 15 East Seventy-fourth 
street, which was elaborately decorated with American, Spanish, 
and Italian flags, by General and Mrs. Wilson to their guests from 
Washington, D. C, consisting of Vice-President and Mrs. Steven- 
son, the Italian Ambassador and Bai'oness de Fava, and Senor 
Don Emilio de Muruaga, the Spanish Minister. Others invited 
to meet them were Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, Bishop Potter, Ad- 
miral Gherardi, U. S. N., General Howard, U. S. A., Mr. Depew, 
A. Loudon Snowdeu of Pennsylvania, late Minister to Spain, who 
aided General Wilson when in that country in attending to details 
connected with the statue, Mr. John V. L. Pruyn, and the mem- 
bers of the Committee then in the city, viz.: Mr. and Mrs. Van- 
derbilt, Mr. and Mrs. Marquand, Mr. and Mrs. Grace, President 
and Mrs. James, and Mr. and Mrs. James J. Goodwin. At 2:45 
the party entered carriages and were escorted to the Park by a 
detachment of twelve mounted Park police. The first carriage 
was occupied by Vice-President Stevenson, General Wilson, Mrs. 
Julia Ward Howe, and the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew. In the 
second were the Italian Ambassador, Baron de Fava, the Bishop 
of New York, and Cornelius Vanderbilt. In the third were ex- 
Mayor and Mrs. Grace, and Mrs. Stevenson. In the fourth rode 
the Baroness de Fava, Mrs. Marquand, and General Howard. In 
the fifth, Mrs. Grant Wilson, Miss Wilson, and Admiral Gherardi. 
In the sixth were Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin, and Hon. Thomas L. 
James. In the seventh, Consul -General Baldasano, Col. A. 
Loudon Snowden, and Mr. Pruyn. 

Five minutes before three o'clock, the assemblage of from eight 
to ten thousand, including many of the most prominent ladies 
and gentlemen of New York, were surprised by the arrival of 
the cortege that was to conduct the ceremonial. Leaving their 
carriages on the side of the east drive, the party were escorted by 
Mr. Philip Rhinelander, Mr. William G. Verplanck, and several 



other ushers* to the grand stand, the Chairman and Vice-Presi- 
dent Stevenson leading the way. Others who occupied seats on 
the platform were : Admiral Benham, U. S. N., Mayor Gilroy, the 
President of the Board of Park Commissioners, and the officers of 
the Spanish ship of war Nautilus, then in New York Harbor. 

* The other ushers, all members of the New York Genealogical and Bio- 
graphical Society, were Messrs. Gill)ert S. Coddington, Richard H. Greene, Alfred 
R. Coukling, Edmund Abdy Hui-ry, Hemy T. Dro^^Tie, Theodore Sutro, Thomas 
G. Evans, John V. L. Pruj-n, Richard T. Greene, and Clarence W. Bowen. 



The following progi'amme was distributed to the guests on the 
platform and to the audience generally. 



PEESENTATION BY CITIZENS OF NEW YORK 

OF 

SunoPs Bronze Statue of 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 

THE MALL, CENTRAL PARK 

Saturday, May 12, 1894, at 3 o'clock p. m. 



COMMITTEE OP ARRANGEMENTS 

JAMES GRANT WILSON, Chairman 

CORNELIUS VANDERBILT HENRY G. MARQTJAND 

WILLIAM WALDORF ASTOR 

WILLIAM R. GRACE JAMES J. GOODWIN THOMAS L. JAMES 

CHARLES F. COX 



PR00RA3^IME 

I. General Wilson, President of the New York Genealogical and Biographical 
Society, wUl take the Chair as presiding officer. 

II. Prayer, by Dr. Henry C. Potter, Bishop of New York. 

III. The Vice-President of the United States will unveil the Statue and present 

it, on behalf of the subscribers, to the City of New York. 

IV. Acceptance of the Statue and Response, by His Honor the Mayor of the 

City. 
V. A Letter from the Duke of Veragua, the descendant of Columbus, will be 
read by Cornelius VanderbOt, Esq. 

VI. Address, by Baron de Fava, Ambassador from Italy. 
VII. Poem, "A Mariner's Dream," by Mrs. Julia Ward Howe. 
VIII. Address, by Senor Don Muruaga, Minister from Spain. 
IX. Oration, by the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew. 

6 



Promi>tly at three o'clock, Greneral Wilson called the meeting 
to order, and after briefly eongi-atulating all present upon the au- 
spicious afternoon, and upon the magnificent audience assembled 
in the American metropolis, to do honor to the memory of the 
illustrious Discoverer of the New World, he introduced Dr. Henry 
C. Potter, Bishop of New York, who delivered a lengthy invoca- 
tion, concluding with the Lord's Prayer, which many present 
joined in repeating. 



The Chairman then said : 

" More than a decade has passed since an American, strolling 
through the Prado of Madrid, came unexpectedly upon a superb 
marble statue of the ' world-seeking Genoese,' and he then and 
there resolved to have a bronze statue of Columbus, from the 
same skilful and cunning hand, set up in the Central Park. A few 
days later, when the traveler was a guest in the magnificent 
Madrid Palace, so much admired by the great Napoleon, the 
American mentioned his purpose to the ruler of the country, who 
said : ' Columbus should ever be an enduring bond between Spain 
and the United States,' and who promised to come to New York 
during the summer of 1892 with an imposing and powerful 
Spanish sqiiadron and unveil the statue. 

"Alas, the young King has for several years slept with many 
generations of his royal ancestors in the vast and gloomy burial- 
place known as the Monastery of the Escorial, Dui'ing the past 
year, as many present will remember, the Duke of Veragua, with 
his family, visited the United States as the nation's guest. While 
in this country, the Duke accepted our committee's invitation to 
unveil the statue of his illustrious ancestor, but a mishap to the 
steamship delayed its arrival until too late a day for the Duke to 
perform the duty befoi'e returning to Spain, but not too late for 
him to see it and to express his unqualified admiration for the 
artistic merits of Suhol's statue, which is an original work cast 



from a new and improved model of the Madrid counterfeit pre- 
sentment of the illustrious discoverer. 

" The pleasant duty which neither the Spanish Monarch nor the 
Spanish Duke had the privilege of performing, now devolves upon 
our esteemed fellow-citizen, the Hon. Adlai E. Stevenson, of 
Illinois, Vice-President of the United States. I have the pleasure 
of presenting Mr. Stevenson, who will now unveil the statue and 
present it, on behalf of the subscribers, to the City of New York." 

Vice-President Stevenson's remarks were as follows : 

" No words of mine can add to the interest or the dignity of 
this great occasion. This hour will live in history. From elo- 
quent lips have fallen burning words, which will tell to coming 
ages of the homage paid here, and now, to the memory of the 
discoverer of a continent. Central Park — beautiful and mag- 
nificent — is a fit place for the statue of Columbus. It is well 
that to the City of New York — the metropolis of the continent — 
should have fallen the grateful task of porti'aying to the millions 
of all the coming ages the features of the man who, despite 
obstacle and danger, marked out the pathway to the New World. 
The name and fame of Columbus belong exclusively to no age or 
country. They are the enduring heritage of all people. Your 
President has truly said : ' In all the transactions of history there 
is no act which for vastness and performance can be compared to 
the discovery of the continent of America.'* In the modest 
words of the great navigator, he ' only opened the gates,' and lo ! 
there came in the builders of a new and mighty nation. 

" It is said that in Venice there is sacredly preserved a letter 
written by Columbus a few hours before he sailed from Palos. 
With reverent expression of trust in God — humbly, but with un- 
faltering faith — he spoke of his 'pm-posed voyage to that famous 
land.' He builded wiser than he knew. His dream, while a 

* "Memorials and Footprints of Columbus." An address by Gen. Jas. Grant 
Wilson, President of the New York Genealogical and BiograpMcal Society. New 
York, 1888. 



suppliant in the antechamber of kings and while keeping lonely 
vigil upon the deep, was the discovery of a new pathway to the 
Indies. Yet who can doubt that to his prophetic soul was then 
foreshadowed something of that famous land with the warp and 
woof of whose history, tradition, and song his name and fame are 
linked for all time. Was it Mr. Winthrop who said of Columbus 
and his compeers, ' They were the jjioneers in the march to inde- 
pendence, the precursors in the only progress of freedom whicTi 
was to have no backward step'? 

" Is it too much to say of this man that among the world's 
benefactors a greater than he hath not appeared f What page in 
all history tells of deeds so fraught with blessings to the genera- 
tions of men as the discovery of America ? Columbus added a 
continent to the map of the world. I will not detain you longer. 
Your eyes will now behold this splendid work of art. It is well 
that its approaches are firm and broad, for along this pathway, 
with the rolling centuries, will come as pilgrims to a shrine the 
myriads of all lands to behold this bronze statue of Columbus — 
this endui'ing and beautiful monument to the gratitude of a great 
city of a great nation." 



When the enthusiastic cheering which greeted the Vice-Presi- 
dent's remarks and the first view of the magnificent statue, which 
had been shrouded in an immense American flag, had subsided, 
the Chairman presented the Mayor of the city, who said : " On be- 
half of the City of New York, I accept with pleasure and gratitude 
the trust just reposed in me. It is proper that the deeds of 
heroes should be remembered, and among heroes Christopher 
Columbus stands high. He opened a new continent, in which a 
sturdy race has gi'own up and is spreading the seeds of liberty 
and civilization over the face of the globe." 

General Wilson then introduced Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt, a 
member of the Committee of Arrangements, who read the follow- 
ing letters from the Duke of Veragua and the Hon. Robert C. 



Winthrop, of Massachusetts, whose eighty-fifth birthday, the 
Chairman announced, occurs this very day. Mr. Vanderbilt also 
read a letter from the Governor of the State, expressing his 
regret that important engagements prevented his being present. 



Madeid, 15 April, 1894. 

My dear General: On the occasion of the unveiling of the 
statue of Columbus, I beg you to express my greetings to the City 
of New York and to all American citizens who are assembled to 
pay a new tribute of respect to the memory of my illustrious 
ancestor. I regi'et that I am unable to assist personally in the 
ceremonial, but I wish to state at this moment my gratefulness to 
America, which the great distance that separates me from your 
wonderful country cannot make me forget. 

You have just erected a work of art of the sculptor Sunol, who 
has, better than any other of his profession, reproduced in marble 
and bronze the inspired features of the man whose genius dis- 
covered a continent greater than the rest of the then known 
world. Spain prides herself on artists like Sunol. Allow me to 
thank you, both as a Spaniard and as a descendant of Columbus. 
Also I beg, dear General, to congratulate you upon the interest 
that you have taken in the matter, which has so greatly con- 
tributed to its success. 

The Duchess sends her kindest regards. Believe me, sincerely 
your friend, Veragua. 

Generaij Grant Wilson. 

90 Marlborough Street. 
Boston, Mass., 2 May, 1894. 
Gen. Jas. Grant Wilson, Chairman. 

My dear Sir: Let me offer, without further delay, my best 
thanks to the Committee of Ai'rangements and to the New York 
Genealogical and Biographical Society for their obliging invita- 

10 



tion to the interesting ceremonial of the 12th inst. It would 
afford me sincere pleasure to witness the unveiling of the statue 
of Columbus in your beautiful Central Park by the Vice-President 
of the United States. But age and infirmities constrain me to 
deny myself to such occasions, and I can only return my grateful 
acknowledgment of so kind an invitation. Believe me, my dear 
General, Yours very truly, 

Robert C. Wintheop. 



Baeon de Fava, the Italian Ambassador, was then introduced, 
and said : 

"It has been my good fortune to follow the celebration of 
Columbus, from its beginning to this day. I have been present 
at Genoa, New York, and Chicago. I have seen two beautiful 
works of art I'ise in this city in honor of Columbi^s. One has 
been erected by the Italian residents of New York, and is the 
work of an eminent artist. This statue, the unveiling of which I 
have been so kindly asked to witness, shows plainly that the love 
of art stands as high in America as the love of Columbus. Now, as 
on former occasions, what impresses me deeply is the current of 
sympathy, the bond of friendship, the memory of this immortal 
man has created between the Old and the New World. They have 
said to each other on this solemn occasion : ' We must be friends 
forever ; our history, our glorious past, and oui- futm-e prosperity 
command it.'" 



11 



" The Mariner's Dream," a poem written for the occasion by- 
Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, a native of New York, as General Wilson 
announced in introducing her, then followed : 



WHERE shall we find the golden key 
That opes to peace and liberty? 
The earth is full of gi'ievous wars, 
The soldier's tread her beauty mars, 
The captive's chains are fast and locked, 
The poor man by the rich man mocked. 
The promise of the Christ we hear. 
But who shall bring fulfilment near! 

A dream came to a sailor bold, 
A happy dream of good untold ; 
And a little bird sang: "Follow me 
Westward, over the unknown sea. 
A star shall lead thy chosen band. 
And bring thy slender craft to land. 
Beyond the waters thou shalt find 
Eegions of splendor unconfined. 
Where giant rivers fruitful flow, 
Where birds of tropic plumage glow, 
Where the old treasures of thy race 
Shall grow and multiply apace. 
And ancient Rule renew its health 
In a new glorious commonwealth." 



The dreamer waking, bowed his head. 
And on the wondrous errand sped. 

12 



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With pleading rare lie wrung the gold 
From hands reluctant to unfold, 
And loosing from old Europe's shore 
Sailed westward, westward evermore. 

"I hear a message in the breeze. 
Whispered from forests of strange trees, 
From depths of greenery unexplored. 
Where sounded ne'er the Christian word. 
I may not feed on light-earned bread. 
Nor on soft pillow rest my head. 
For still my wondering thoughts obey 
The mystic voice that calls away. 

"Ev'n when I sate the hearth beside 
With my child's mother, gentle-eyed. 
Listening the urchin's prattle sweet. 
Guiding with love his tiny feet. 
His steps uncertain seemed to show 
The distant way that mine should go, 
The pilgrimage appointed me, 
In some compelling prophecy. 

" Oh ! if, the weltering waters o'er. 
My bark might reach that unknown shore. 
From that deep forest pluck its fruit. 
Waken the echoes dull and mute. 
And open to the tropic's breath 
The blazoned banner of our faith ! 

" What though the way be long to find 
Traced dimly in my laboring mind ; 
Though wild impatience seize my crew. 
Distrustful of the venture new. 

13 



Should all mankind against me turn, 
The haven gained, my wage should earn. 
The yet undowered Future claim 
Earth's noblest conquest in my name." 

Oh, man of visions, sorely vexed ! 
Denied, deserted, and perplexed ; 
Shamed by rebuke from royal lips, 
And Fame and Fortune's sad eclipse, 
Thy furrow traced across the sea 
The unseen path of destiny. 
In thy firm hand the steadfast helm 
Steered onward to the magic realm. 
And now from out the centuries' maze 
Millions of voices sing thy praise. 
And hail those conquering footsteps trod, 
Inspired of angels, led by God. 



Here gather we in Gotham town, 
Of all oui" western world the crown, 
While ladies fair and gallants gay 
Unite to celebrate the day. 
But while we list the high discourse 
And while the Pasan has its course, 
Let Faith re-consecrate this form, 
Adventured once 'gainst sea and storm. 

For 't was this hand that held the key, 
Unlocking Peace and Liberty. 
When all we have and all we are 
Hung on the guidance of a star. 
And on the answer, dimly guessed 
In one resolved, responsive breast. 



At the conclusiou of the reading of Mrs. Howe's poem, which 
was highly applauded, the aunouucemeut was made by the Chair- 
mau, that Seuor Don Muruaga, the Spanish Minister, who had 
come from Washington to attend the ceremonial, was by a sudden 
attack of illness confined to his rooms at the Plaza Hotel, and was 
therefore unfortunately prevented from being present. In his 
absence, he was represented by the Cousul-General of Spain, 
Senor Arturo Baldasano, who read the brief address prepared by 
the Spanish Minister, which was as follows : 

" It becomes the representative of Spain, the country which 
was the prime promoter of the discovery of America, to address 
on this occasion the people of this great metropolis and of the 
United States in a spirit of friendship and good will. It is more- 
over particularly gratifying to the Spanish Grovernment to behold 
the Vice-President of the United States, General Grant Wilson, 
organizer of this successful enterprise, and Mr. Chauncey M. 
Depew, the genial and popular orator of New York, raising their 
eloquent voices to honor the memory of Columbus. The mind 
hesitates, and feels bewildered, considering the possibilities that 
might have arisen in the old European countries, struggling with 
the unknown and as yet uncontrollable problems of labor and 
capital, over-population and over-production, had this vast con- 
tinent not been thrown wide open to the partizans of free thought 
and free government. Let this well-deserved statue of Columbus 
remind future generations that every man, however exalted his 
position may be, must contribute with his share of labor and 
worry to the public welfare." 

Me. Depew, the orator of the day, was then presented by General 
Wilson, and delivered the following admirable address, which was 
listened to with the greatest attention, and was very generally 
accepted as among the most successful of Mr. Depew's many 
oratorical efforts of the past twenty years. 



MR. DEPEW'S SPEECH. 

NEW YORK can add notbiug to the glory of Columbus, but 
slie may enforce the lesson of his life and discovery. The 
fire kindled by him on a little island of the Western Hemisphere, 
amid the darkness of the fifteenth century, has become the flame 
which illumines the nineteenth with light and liberty. Seed-time 
and harvest have their soil and seasons with humanity as with 
the earth. In all ages and among all races, the winds and the 
waves have borne the kernels of truth, and they have been lost 
on the rocks and in the waters. There were patriots before Run- 
nymede, but their blood fertilized that field for Magna Charta. 
Patriots had labored and died in vain before the Declaration of 
Independence in 1776. German Federation had been a Teutonic 
di-eam for two thousand years before Bismarck. Italian unity 
was the hope of Italy for centuries before Garibaldi, Mazzini, 
and Cavour. The French Republic was the effort and aspiration 
of the best thinkers and boldest actors of France for a hundred 
years before Thiers and Gambetta. The Viking sailed along the 
coast of North America, and planted colonies upon its shores five 
hundred years before Columbus. But the time was not ripe, and 
the people of Europe were not prepared for America and its 
opportunities. 

The brilliant and liberal reign of Lorenzo the Magnificent at 
Florence, which closed as Columbus sailed from Palos, had stimu- 
lated commerce, ai"t, and learning. It had both awakened and 
opened the mind in every country on the continent. The literary 
treasures of the great library of the Vatican were placed at the 
disposal of scholai's, and the re\'ival of learning was a marked 
feature of the period. The expulsion of the Moslems from Spain 
had relieved Europe of the strain of warring creeds. Intense 



intellectual activity was breaking the bonds of the Middle Ages 
and i^reparing the way for independent thought and discovery. 
The statesmanship and the guile of Louis XI. in France, and 
the concentration of power in Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain, 
had broken down feudalism and centralized authority. The road 
from the dismantled castles of the Barons to the royal palace, 
and from the royal palace to the representative assembly of the 
people, became the highway of liberty. These wonderful and 
revolutionary events were, for a time, the blessings only of the 
favored few, the great and the learned. 

[At this point in his oration, the speaker saw that something was amusing his 
audience. Tlie sun had by this time gotten well down in the west, and shone full 
in Mr. Depew's face. General Howard stood by his side and tried to shield him 
with an umbrella, but could uot do it without liiding Mr. Depew from the people. 
General Howard gave it up amid the laughter of the crowd, and General Wilson 
took the umbrella, but met with no better success. Seiior Baldasano then tried 
his hand, and managed to thrtiw a little shadow on Mr. Depew's left ear and a 
comer of his forehead. The orator of the day laughed as heartily as any of his 
auditors during the performance of this little comedy, and when quiet was re- 
stored said : 

^'Ladies and Gentlemen : This is not the first time an attempt has been made to 
eclipse me. That famous soldier, General Howard, has tried it and was forced 
to give it up ; General WOson, who brought this statue over under his arm, and 
who never failed in anything that he has undertaken heretofore, could n't do it, 
but now," turning and bowing to Seflor Baldasano, "I stand under the shadow 
of Spain."] 

It was reserved uot for kings or nobles or the mighty of earth 
to utilize the past and present for the uplifting of the masses of 
mankind. We may say reverently. As Christianity came for us 
through the son of a carpenter, so the invention which opened the 
way for Christianizing the world was wrought out by a humble 
artisan of Mayence. The significance of types and the prophecy 
of their use were made clear in the selection of the Bible as their 
first work. The printing-press of Gutenberg aud the invention 
of paper, which had preceded it only a few years, were the levers 
aud the levelers of the future. By bringing education within the 

17 



reach of all, they elevated the people to the understanding and 
pi'actice of liberty; and equal opportunity and rights battered 
down privilege and caste. 

Incidents, which to the pious are special pro\ndences, and to 
others tritling accidents, have often altered the course of histoiy. 
The marriage of Isabella with Ferdinand enabled a liberal and 
generous mind to influence a bigoted and miserly one for the 
venture, certainly rash, perhaps blasphemous, into the unknown 
West, and made possible the voyage of Columbus. A hungry boy 
stopped his proud and mendicant father at the door of the Convent 
of La Rabida, to meet there in the person of the Prior, the en- 
lightened and learned Father Juan Perez, the Confessor of the 
Queen, the only man living who had both the breadth and inde- 
pendence to understand and believe in the plans of the great 
navigator and also the confidence of her Majesty. It was a flight 
of bu'ds which changed the course of the Santa Maria and her 
consorts, and gave South America to Spain and Portugal, and the 
dominant power on the northern continent to the Saxon race. 
Thus, the United States, as distinguished from the Spanish Re- 
publics and the Portuguese Empire and subsequent Republic of 
Brazil, is apparently an accident of an accident. It is really the 
result of climate and conditions suited to the development of that 
resistless strain in the blood which circles the globe with its con- 
quests, and, blended with Teuton and Celt, with Latin and Scandi- 
navian, increases the j^ower and the promise of our country. 

Ferdinand was a tj^^ical representative of his times. We must 
judge the men of every period by their standards, not ours. Only 
fools are offended at criticisms of the State or Church of the dark 
ages, and only the ignorant claim that either was so abreast with 
the thought or education of to-day that their substitution for 
present conditions would receive now either welcome or hospital- 
ity. The King believed the torture chamber better than courts of 
justice. He knew of no law which was superior to his autocratic 
will. He was frugal to meanness and devoid of generosity or 
integi-ity. He laughed at Columbus when the great navigator 



was pleading for the ships to find for him an empire, and he 
cheated the dying hero of the rewards he promised and the honors 
he had pledged when the empire was won. To Isabella had been 
wafted across space a breath of the purer air of the nineteenth 
century. When we consider what she was, in spite of the almost 
insuffei'able barriers of her environment, a sweet and mighty 
spirit seems to have escaped from the bondage of the age, and in 
the beautiful presence of the Queen inspired the soul of a saint 
and prophetess. She gave her jewels for the fleet, and with un- 
dimmed faith waited for the return, which ended in triumphal pro- 
cessions and royal greetings. She struck the shackles from the 
Indian slaves which were brought her as part of the booty of the 
New World, and issued stern decrees against cruelty and lust ; but 
they were nullified by her untimely death, and myriads of innocent 
men, women, and children were consigned to nameless horrors and 
final extermination. This favored land recognizes its obligations 
to its benefactress in granting to woman privileges and oppor- 
tunities unknown in other countries. It gives to her independence 
and control in her property. It opens for her the academy and 
the university, and it yields to her a precedence and power, at 
home and in society, which puts within her grasp the substance 
of rights which, in the boasted age of chivalry, were only a flow- 
ery and pretentious sham. 

Columbus was of that rare type of genius which belongs to no 
age, and rises above the errors, or superstitions, or ignorance of 
his period. While most of the learned, and all the unlearned, be- 
lieved the earth to be flat, he boldly proclaimed its sphericity; 
while the same overwhelming majority feared the monsters of the 
deep, who were waiting beyond the western horizon to devour the 
daring and saciilegious mariners and destroy their ships, he saw 
on the other side of the unknown sea limitless empire for his 
sovereigns, and myriads of souls for the saving offices of his 
Church. He had sailed to the farthest limits of the discoveries of 
the times. He had investigated with unprejudiced and unclouded 
mind the evidences cast up from the ocean of other lands and 

19 



strange peoples. As sailor, privateer, and pirate, he had experi- 
enced the dangers of hostile elements and armed enemies. As 
geographer and mapmaker, he had absorbed all the teachings of 
the past, and boldly placed upon his maps the new continent, with 
its untold wealth of gold and precious stones, and its unequaled 
opportunities for the power and greatness of the throne, which 
would grant him the facilities of his voyage. The conquest of 
Grenada and the expulsion of the Moors from Spain seemed to the 
statesmen of Europe an event of transcendent importance, but 
to this superb enthusiast it was a local affair which delayed the 
plans for the capture of a continent. 

The spiritual and temporal power, the pomp and pageantry of 
Castile and Aragon, formed an array unequaled in the brilliancy 
of its King and Queen, its prelates and statesmen, its philosophers 
and soldiers, and in the splendor of their equipment, to receive 
from Boabdil the keys of his capital, and the capitulation of his 
kingdom. The enthusiasm of the hour lifted the Spanish hosts to 
heavenly ecstasy, all save one. This proud pauper, the royal pur- 
ple of his imagination giving dignity to his rags and majesty to 
his mien, looked coldly upon the splendid spectacle. To the man 
who had waited for years, because he would accept no other terms 
with his fleet than the Admiralty of the Ocean, the Viceroyalty 
of the Indies, and one tenth the revenues of the Western Hemi- 
sphere, the martial field before him was only a skirmish on the 
battle-line of the universe. 

The faults of Columbus were the results of the civilization and 
conditions of his times, from which no man is great enough to 
wholly escape; but his faith was his own. After the lapse of four 
hundred years it is as impressive to us as it was potent with his 
contemporaries. It gave immortality to the humble Convent of 
La Rabida and its noble prior. It clarified the atmosphere and 
dispelled the darkness about Isabella, so that she could grasp the 
great truth. It calmed the fears and quelled the mutiny of the 
crew, and found its reward in the glimmering light on San Sal- 
vador, which for the sailors meant land at last, and for the Ad- 

20 



miral the New "World of which he had dreamed, for which he had 
suffered, and now, after discouragements and perils innumerable, 
had discovered. 

In 1492 was issued the cruel edict which confiscated the prop- 
erty of hundreds and thousands of Jews and then expelled them 
from Spain. In the same year the same sovereigns equipped the 
fleet of Columbus for its immortal voyage. The unhappy and un- 
fortunate Hebrews were landed upon the shores of Asia and 
Africa, but nowhere did they receive either welcome or hospital- 
ity. The little ships of Columbus as they sailed out of the harbor 
of Palos passed the great war-vessels which were carrying these 
captive Israelites from their homes. The royal frigates were bear- 
ing them to fresh horrors and persecutions, but the weak and 
deckless caravels of the discoverer were, unknown to sovereign or 
servant, guided by Divine Providence to the land where all creeds 
and all races should dwell in the harmony of equal rights, and 
unite in contributing to the power and glory of a government of 
organized liberty. 

The inspiring dream of Columbus was to utilize the treasvires 
of the New World for the redemption from the infidel of the holy 
sepulcher at Jerusalem. He believed that by virtue of his name, 
Christopher, he was carrying Christ across the sea to the heathen. 
The lust for gold made his followers profane the name of the 
Prince of Peace with such outrages and cruelties, such torturings 
and massacres of the confiding aborigines, as caused even the 
fifteenth century to shudder. He died, with his dream of the 
rescue of the tombs of the Saviour still a vision. He little knew, as 
he lay helpless amidst the ruin of his hopes, that though he had lost 
an empty grave, he had found a perpetual asylum for conscience. 
He could not foresee that, while in their savage greed those with 
him and those who came after gave to the Indians not the light 
of truth, but consigned them to the flames, and brought to them 
not the gospel of love, but feU upon them with sword and spear, 
yet the country he discovered would be the bulwark and hope of 
the Church. 



The Pilgi-im Fathers fled from persecution iu England to re- 
ligious liberty in Massachusetts. The Highlanders who fought 
for Prince Charles Edward Stuart found refuge in North Caro- 




lina. The Quakers to be free from their tormentors sailed to 
Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and they received there with open 
arms the Germans driven from the Palatinate by Louis the Four- 



22 



teenth. The Huguenots escaping from France after the revocation 
of the Edict of Nantes built happy homes on the Hudson and 
under the shelter of the groves of South Carolina. Oglethorpe led 
the Teutons seeking an opportunity to worship God according to 
their lights from Salzburg to Georgia. Irishmen, saved from the 
merciless conquests of Cromwell, scattered all over the land to 
consecrate their altars and enjoj^ in safety their religion. Dutch 
Protestants came to New York, Swedish Protestants to Delaware, 
English Catholics to Maryland, and the English Church Cavaliers 
to Virginia. The best contribution of Columbus to future gener- 
ations was a continent for the cultivation of civil and religious 
liberty. A State built upon the individual, and not upon classes 
or creeds, is the source and strength of American freedom. 

It was the supreme good fortune of the United States that for 
its first settlers the conditions of existence were labor, temperance, 
and thrift. The hostile savages, the rigors of the climate, the 
virgin forests, and the resisting soil, demanded the indomitable 
energy and dauntless corn-age which fashion heroes and patriots. 
Had there been gold-mines in New England, New York, and 
Virginia, to excite the cupidity of kings and tempt the adventurers 
of Europe, and to demoralize the inhabitants of the colonies and 
take them from their homes and their churches to the feverish 
excitement of mining-camps, there would have been little per- 
manent settlement or public sentiment. The farms on the bleak 
hillsides of Connecticut and Massachusetts, in the Mohawk Valley, 
along the Delaware and on the James, were fountains of national 
virtue and springs of free thought and free speech. It was the 
training and experience of necessity which opened the avenues of 
opportunity for the people of North America. It enabled the 
" embattled farmer " at Concord and Lexington to face the vet- 
erans of European battle-fields. It nerved the members of the 
Continental Congress to brave the terrors of treason, and confis- 
cation, and death, by their bold and clear signatures to the Declar- 
ation of Independence. It reared and trained a race who could 
rescind slaveiy though it was interwoven with their political 



system from foundation to turret, and after bloody battles between 
those who upheld the one side and those who favored the other, 
could reunite to labor harmoniously for the welfare and strength 
of the purified republic. 

The Columbian idea of discovery was to find a land where gold 
could be mined from exhaustless stores, a land flowing with rivers 
of diamonds and precious stones. Limitless wealth, easily ac- 
quired, was to enrich, beyond the dreams of avarice, the sovereigns 
and people of Spain. He had no conception of the adventurous 
pioneer and thrifty emigi-ant. The bell-crowned Pilgiims, landing 
on Plymouth Rock in midwinter with no other purpose than to 
found a State for the enjoyment by all of just and equal laws, 
would have aroused his wonder and contempt. The imagination 
cannot picture his amazement coiild he have foreseen the marvel- 
ous results of the Mayflower''s voyage. The wealth poured in such 
abundant measure from the mines of the New World into the 
treasury of Spain was a potent factor in the fall of her power 
and prestige in Europe. 

The founders of our republic welcomed with cordial hospitality 
all who came to escape from oppression or better their condition. 
The immigi-ants who accepted the invitation and landed by 
millions on our shores brought the qualities and pui-poses which 
have added incalculably to the wealth and glory of our country. 
While South America and Mexico were demoralizing Europe with 
gold and silver, Europe was contributing to the United States her 
fai-mers and artisans to gather from the fruitful earth and pro- 
duce in the busy factory an annual and ever-increasing volume of 
wealth ; wealth which enriches, but does not enervate, which 
stimulates invention, promotes progress, founds institutions of 
learning, builds homes for the many, and increases the happiness 
of all. Four centuries separate us from Columbus. Within this 
period more has been accomplished for humanity than in the four 
thousand years which preceded him. 

We are here to erect this statue to his memory, because of the 
unnumbered blessings to America and to the people of every race 



and clime which have followed his discovery. His genius and 
faith gave to succeeding generations the opportunity for life and 
liberty. We, the heirs of all the ages, in the plenitude of our en- 
joyments and the prodigality of the favors showered upon us, 
hail Columbus: Hero and benefactor! 



¥ 



At the close of Mr. Depew's address there was prolonged 
applaiise, when General Wilson advanced to the front of the plat- 
form and said that the ceremonies were at an end. Then the 
people gathered about the base of the statue and passed around it 
to view its beauty. The polished New England granite pedestal 
bears on its front in large gilt letters the name " Columbus," and 
on the back, " Presented by citizens of New York, In Commemo- 
ration of the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Discovery of the 
New World, October, 1492." For a description of Sunol's statue, 
readers are referred to the concluding article from " The Art Intei- 
chauge," which appears on another page. 

The proceedings connected with the ceremonial of unveiling 
the Columbus statue were very appropriately concluded by a 
pleasant dinner-party in the evening, given by ex-Mayor and 
Mrs. William H. Grace at their residence, No. 31 East Seventy-ninth 
street, at which the principal guests were Vice-President and Mrs. 
Stevenson,Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, General and Mrs. Grant Wil- 
son, Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, Commodore Van Santvoord, Arturo 
Baldasano, Consul-General of Spain, and Hon. Thomas L. James. 
The Italian Ambassador and the Baroness de Fava were com- 
pelled by an important engagement to return to Washington the 
same evening ; and the Spanish Minister, Senor Muruaga, was pre- 
vented by illness from being present. 



The gift to the people of New York City of a spirited bronze 
statue of Christopher Columbus for the adornment of Central 
Park is a patriotic and altogether praiseworthy deed. The one 
hundred and fifty gentlemen who contributed their efforts and 
their money for the accomplishment of this gi-acef ul purpose are 
indeed public-spirited. To them and to General James Grant 
Wilson, who conceived the idea of reproducing in Central Park 
for the enjoyment of the American public the beautiful statue 
which he admired in Madi'id, and who pushed his pui'pose to suc- 
cess, are due the thanks of all. Sunol's Columbus is deserving of 
the important site it occupies at the entrance to the Mall as much 
on account of the healthful public spirit that prompted the gift 
as on account of its intrinsic beauty. — New York Herald. 



New York has reason for satisfaction that at last she has 
what, to her shame as the chief city of the American continent, 
she long lacked, a creditable statue of Columbus. The presentation 
to the city by the Italian residents of the monument at Eighth 
Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street was followed yesterday by the 
unveiling on the Mall in Central Park of the Sunol statue of the 
discoverer, which is similar to the famous work by the same 
sculptor in the Prado at Madrid. The site chosen is one of the 
finest in the park, and testifies to the high appreciation of the 
gift by our city. The statue itself does credit to the location, and 
with the Shakespeare and Indian Hunter near by will form an ex- 
ceedingly effective gi'oup. The ceremonies yesterday afternoon 
were of an unusually interesting character ; for, in addition to the 
parts taken by the Vice-President, Bishop Potter, Mr. Depew, and 
others, there were addi'esses by the representatives of Italy and 
Spain, the two nations most closely associated in our minds with 
Columbus ; and a poem by Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, whose singing 
for freedom has been no less effective than others' fighting. — New 
York Tribune. 



General Grant Wilson, the distinguished soldier and author, 
strolling one day through the Prado, in Madrid, paused before a 
marble statue of Columbus, the beauty of which called forth his 
profound admiration. It was the work of Senor Jeronimo Suiiol, 
a sculptor whose fame is by no means confined to the Spanish 
capital. In the few moments that followed, the General resolved 
that of so fine a representation of the great discoverer there ought 
to be a replica in America, owned by the Americans. That reso- 
lution has been carried out, and New York is soon to be the 
possessor of a statue of Columbus than wliich there is probably 
none finer in the world. Upon his return here, General Wilson 
laid his plans before a number of prominent New Yorkers, includ- 
ing Mr. Cornelius Vauderbilt, Mr. August Belmont, and Mr. William 
Waldorf Astor, and enlisted their hearty interest as well as secured 
their moneyed subscriptions. The fifteen thousand dollars which 
was 23aid for the statue and pedestal was made up by one-hundi-ed- 
doUar subscriptions, several ladies being among the subscribers. 

Having raised the necessary funds, the General ordered the 
replica. The artist, Suiiol, flattered by this veiy practical appre- 
ciation of his work, i-esponded, not with a replica, biit with an 
entirely new model, which in artistic finish was soon discovered 
to transcend even the original. This was two years ago. Since 
then the statue had been cast, and is now in this city. Though 
not yet on public exhibition, through the courtesy of General 
Wilson, "The Art Interchange" is permitted to reproduce it. The 
statue is of heroic size, and represents Columbus at " The Land- 
ing," in the act of retm-ning thanks to God. He wears the famous 
coat of scarlet, deep-edged with ermine. Around his neck is a 
heavy chain with a pendant containing the head of Isabella. The 
right leg is in advance, the left leg drawn back and resting on the 
toe. The right arm is thrown forward, the hand firmly grasping 
the royal standard, while the other hand is outheld as if in blessing. 
The head of Columbus here presented is the type most familiar. 
Here is the smooth-shaven face, the high retreating brow, the long 
hair caressing broad shoulders. Expression — that impalpable 

27 



something by means of which genius tui'ns stone and metal into 
flesh and blood — is here made to give the true effect. Here is 
Columbus, the liviug man. This is a being, animated, whose 
attitude expresses only one thing — gratitude. In the face there is 
an intensity, an earnestness, which makes one forget that it is cold 
bronze; for those open lips are actually muttering, those eyes 
expressing, thankfulness. 

In the figure, the artist with consummate skill shows the two 
sides of the hero's life — the two distinct men which his career 
compelled him to be. In the silvered locks flowing down from his 
uncovered head, in the deep-set, uplifted eyes shining with a holy 
light, in the sad and gentle lips, in the hand humbly outheld in 
blessing, is the aged student, the scholar, the man of peace; 
while in the undaunted determination that firm sets the features 
in the massive neck and sturdy shoulders, in the force and strength 
which the ponderous frame seems to be holding in reserve, is the 
rough adventurer, the hardy and brawny navigator, the iron-willed 
captain. The execution of the statue is indeed faithful. More 
than once it reveals the magic touch of genius, and the whole is a 
splendid specimen of what later-day Spaniards can do in plastic 
art. Among the living sculptors of his native land Sunol has no 
superior. 

The statue was to have been unveiled last spring by the Duke 
of Veragua, but on account of the delay in shipment and of the 
breaking down of the vessel in transit, it did not arrive until just 
before the Duke sailed — too late for him to officiate, as proposed. 
However, the Duke saw the statue, and declared that it far excelled 
even the beautiful original in his own country. The late King of 
Spain, who entertained General "Wilson in that magnificent palace 
at Madrid which the first Napoleon deemed the finest in Europe, 
remarked to his guest, "Columbus should form an enduring bond 
between Spain and the United States," and expressed very great 
interest in the General's scheme, saying, " I should like to visit 
New York and unveil the statue when it is completed." 

The statue is to stand in the Mall in Central Park, opposite 



the statue of Shakespeare, and, by having a pedestal designed by- 
Napoleon Le Brun, somewhat similar in size and material, the 
two will harmonize. The ceremony of unveiling, which will be 
an important event fraught with great public interest, is now fixed 
for an early day in the coming spring, upon which occasion Mr. 
Chauneey M. Depew will be the orator and Mrs. Julia Ward 
Howe read a poem composed for the occasion. Mr. Stevenson, 
Vice-President of the United States, is to be invited to unveil the 
statue and deliver the address of presentation. As is usual in 
such a project, its practical fulfilment falls entirely upon one man. 
In this case the man is General Wilson, with whom the idea 
originated, and to whom the credit is chiefly due for the under- 
taking's great success. — The Art Interchange, February, 1894. 



¥ 



29 



Among those who subscribed $100 each to pay for the statue 
and pedestal are the following ladies and gentlemen : 



D. Appleton & Co. 

tJoHN Jacob Astor 
William W. Astor 
Samuel D. Babcock 
Madame de Barrios 

t August Belmont 
George Bliss 
George S. Bowdoin 

fJAMES M. Brown 
J. M. Ceballos 

fGEORGE W. ChILDS 

Charles F. Clark 

Frederick A. Constable 
fWiLLiAM W. Corcoran 

Archbishop Corrigan 

Charles F. Cox 

John D. Crimmins 

Chauncey M. Depew 
t Squire P. Dewey 

D. Stuart Dodge 

Mrs. W. E. Dodge, Sr. 

William E. Dodge 
f Joseph W. Drexel 

Stephen B. Elkins 
fBENjAMiN H. Field 
JHamilton Fish 

John D. Flower 

KoswELL P. Flower 

Elbridge T. Gerry 

Jajies J. Goodwin 
fJAY Gould 

William R. Grace 

Walter S. Gurnee 

George A. Hearn 
fJoHN H. Hall 

Mrs. Henry Herrman 

Abram S. Hewitt 

Alfred M. Hoyt 

C. P. Huntington 
Morris K. Jesup 

D. Willis James 
Thomas L. James 



John D. Jones 

George W. Kidd 

John A. King 

Charles Lanier 

Napoleon Le Brun 
t Robert J. Livingston 
JAbiel a. Low 

Henry G. Marquand 

J. Pierpont Morgan 

Darius O. Mills 

Alfonso de Navarro 

Antonio F. de Navarro 

Jose F. de Navarro 

Mrs. Jose F. de Navarro 

Bishop H. C. Potter 
fORLANDO B. Potter 

John V. L. Pruyn 

George W. Quintard 

J. Meredith Read 

WiLLIAil RHINELANDER 

John D. Rockefeller 
Mrs. Russell Sage 
Russell Sage 
William C. Schermerhorn 
Jacob H. Shiff 
Samuel Sloan 
William D. Sloane 
J. S. T. Stranahan 
Charles L. Tiffany 
Frederick D. Thompson 
Mrs. Randolph W. Townsend 
H. McK. Twombly 
Cornelius Vanderbilt 
Frederick W. Vanderbilt 
George W. Vanderbilt 
Egbert L. Viele 
H. Walter Webb 
William H. Webb 
Jacob Wendell 
William C. Whitney 
James Grant Wilson 
George G. Williams 



t Deceased. 



30 



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